The Bearcats are picked fifth in the preseason conference polls, and have just four upperclassmen returning. That inexperience has led to a little different preseason practice this August.

"It's a lot different. You know, the culture is a little different here," said coach Glenn Kiriyama. "We've got nine underclassman out of 13 players. We've got good leaders though, and they're doing a good job of really helping out the new people."

"I think the returners definitely worked all spring season to create a foundation for those girls to come into," said senior Alexa Zbytniewski. "They know what they're going into, they know what we expect of them and we've enforced it every day in practice. And they have definitely adapted very well."